1. Field
The present invention relates generally to alerting systems and improvements thereof. More particularly, the present invention relates to monitoring and alerting systems and methods for air traffic control and improvements thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Inattentive personnel in air traffic control positions have become a significant safety concern in recent years. Falling asleep while on the job can have considerable consequences given the wide range of duties for which air traffic controllers are responsible. A typical control tower manned by traffic controllers is responsible for overseeing and directing both ground traffic and air traffic. Aircraft wishing to descend to a runway for landing or taxi to the runway for take-off must first be given clearance or authorization from the control tower that it is safe to do so to ensure such movement will not interfere with the travel paths of other aircraft or vehicles. During most daytime shifts, when the control tower is busiest, multiple individuals may be working in the control tower to handle the various responsibilities. However, during nighttime shifts or periods where air traffic is expected to be minimal, the number of individuals assigned and manning the control tower is greatly decreased. Recent budgetary considerations have lately resulted in reduced number of staff or personnel in charge of controlling all of the duties of the control tower during these off-peak shifts.
The lack of any direct human interaction with other individuals in the control tower combined with the long time periods of general boredom from minimal aircraft activity and the relative darkness during nighttime hours has lead to a large increase in accidental napping by air traffic controllers. For example, in the first five months of 2011, the FAA disclosed that seven air traffic controllers had been found sleeping while at work. In addition, a 39% increase in errors at air traffic control facilities that handle aircraft at high altitudes has been noted by the Transportation Department Inspector General. Errors such as aircraft flying too close together, missed emergency requests or requests to land and a variety of other mistakes can result in injury or death to travelers. While decreased staffing may meet budgetary demands, the resulting public safety consequences are quickly demanding an alternative solution. A system that monitors activity in the control tower and Air Traffic Control (ATC) facilities to ensure alertness of the personnel is needed and would allow staffing to remain minimal during periods of decreased aircraft activity without sacrificing public safety in the process.
In the field of monitoring and alerting systems, a variety of solutions have been designed to help ensure an individual remains focused or attentive while participating in a specific activity. Driver attentiveness systems for automobiles have been developed that monitor various input parameters such as vehicle speed, use of brake pedals, steering wheel operation or lack of driver response to instructions from the system (such as verbally repeating a series of words) to determine whether a driver is paying attention while driving the automobile. If the system determines the driver is inattentive, light and sound emitting elements are successively activated to gain the driver's attention.
Other vigilance monitoring systems have been developed, more generic in nature, for installation in a variety of settings or applications, such as for the operation or guidance of military equipment, commercial airliners, or nuclear power plants. These systems intervene when sensing inactivity of an individual by visual, aural or touch-based stimuli. Aircraft themselves have been outfitted with such alerting systems to ensure pilots do not fall asleep while operating an airborne aircraft. Some methods have been envisioned as applicable to air traffic control settings and where physical characteristics such as eye blinks, heat or physical movement are used to monitor activity.
However, an inexpensive monitoring and alerting system has yet to be developed and used in the air traffic control field despite the benefits of such a system. One of the biggest hurdles to investment in such a system is the high cost of current monitoring solutions. There is a need for an inexpensive alerting system that can be easily installed within existing control towers and ATC facilities without requiring prohibitively expensive retrofitting of components or systems. The ideal system would be compatible with existing control tower equipment or devices, would be relatively simple to operate and would utilize a minimal amount of hardware since complexity and addition of components increases cost, both in initial install or setup and in ongoing maintenance. The ideal alerting system would also operate in stages with progressively intrusive alerting mechanisms for garnering the awareness of an individual. Furthermore, the ideal system would operate on both a local level within the controlling facility and be capable of external notification outside of or remote to the control tower or ATC facilities.